A scanner has detected 70 signs that could be missing people deep inside the rubble of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok.
The sensor, supplied by the US military, detected the signs in the centre of the collapsed building, between the 17th and 21st floors where most of the missing people had been working when the earthquake struck on Friday, the Ruamkatanyu Rescue Foundation reported on Tuesday morning.
Bangkok deputy governor Tavida Kamolvej said it was unclear whether all 70 signs represented missing people. However, six had been identified as human bodies.
The building had pancaked, with the collapsed floors lying on top of each other, so it was not known which floor each person was on, she said.
Rescuers said they were making the best progress they could, but admitted it was a struggle to get to the trapped people.
The 30-storey building had been under construction, so there was no complete blueprint, rescuers said. The walls were about one metre thick, making excavation difficult.
The site is still too unstable to use heavy excavating equipment. Workers have had to gradually remove the debris, lifting and clearing it from the top down.
With the rescue now in the fifth day, the plan was being continuously adjusted with the aim to save as many people as possible, Ms Tavida said.
The next step will be to insert some search cameras into the cavities and areas seen in the scans to determine whether there are human bodies there and to identify more precisely their exact location under the rubble, she said.
Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said it appeared unsafe to begin lifting debris off at this stage, an approach that might help speed up the rescue.
The Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) said at 8am Tuesday that the confirmed toll from the collapse was 13 dead and 19 injured, with scores still missing. Seven other deaths linked to Friday’s quake were reported at other locations.
In another development, the Central Police Forensic Science Division (CPFSD) said all 12 dead bodies sent to the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the Police General Hospital have been identified.
Only one body which at this point was believed to be a foreigner still was pending DNA matching, said Pol Maj Gen Wathi Atsawutmangkun, chief of the CPFSD, urging the employer or relatives of this migrant worker to come forward for the final body identification process.
So far around 40 families have given their DNA samples to the Institute for use to match any bodies received for identification, while up to about 76 people still were believed missing, he said.
A bird’s-eye view of the collapsed State Audit Office building in Bangkok. (Photo: Fire and Rescue Facebook page)
